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WRSChap1
page5-7 Like any photo of the brothers together, the photo taken in 1909 at their fame peak was very impressive. In the photo, the elder brother Wilbur, then aged at 42, is lean and kind of mind-absent , and he is serious like his father. The younger brother Orville, age 38 then, stouter and younger-looking than his brother, was noticeably better dressed. Their hands which had taken an important part in bringing great change to the world were prominent. Both brothers dislike having their picture taken. The two were known as self-contained, industrious and inseparable. They lived, worked, financed and even thought together. Their eyes looked alike, their handwriting was alike and their voice was alike as well. Orville dressed better while Wilbur was regarded somewhat mysterious and attractive to women. Both were music lovers, though played different instruments. Both liked cooking. Both were greatly energetic and working hard. They got along considerably well and with unspoken understanding Wilbur was the senior member of the partnership. Sometimes they could be highly critical of each other, and they always chose to be themselves. They were both notably modest. They had differences. Wilbur was more active of movement, more serious, studious and reflective. His memory was amazing. Wilbur had a strong power of concentration and might seem strange to others. Wilbur was calm under almost any circumstance. He was an excellent public speaker and a clear writer. His vocabulary and use of language were of the highest order. page14-16 Bishop treated his children at home equally, but obviously liked Wilbur most. Wilbur was good at everything and was a good student in a lot of subjects. Others said that He might be going to Yale. But everyone worried about Wilbur because of an accident. While playing hockey he was hit in the face and knocked out most of his front teeth。 From the little that is known, there was much more of the story. A man named Haugh who knocked Wilbur became a murderer in Ohio, and was executed in 1906 because of murdering his family. At the time of the accident, Haugh lived two streets away from Wright family , he was younger than Wilbur but bully. Dayton Journal wrote him as”to inflinct pain and discomfort on others” He worked at a drugstore and used Cocaine to relieve himself from the rotting teeth pain. His behavior became strange and he was sent to the Dayton Asylum. Wilbur knew Haugh but it was impossible to know if Haugh had some sort of score to settle with Wilbur or it was because of the influence of the drug. Except for Bishop Wright’s diary, nothing about this accident was found anywhere in Wright family’s reminiscences. They wanted to put this accident behind them. But it changed Wilbur’s life. He suffered pain in his face, and had to be fitted with false teeth. Serious digestive complications, heart palpitations and spells of depression followed behind . All talks about Yale stopped. His ailing mother took care of him, but when time passed, it became Wilbur to take care of her. Wilbur was a good son who was hard to compare with. At morning his mother could go down by herself but was carried upstairs by Wilbur at night. Brother Lorin wondered about what Wilbur should do in the future. Wilbur remained a recluse and started reading for three years at home. Wright house at 7 Hawthorn Street was modest and had modest neighborhood. There were seven small rooms ,three down stairs, four up in their house. The brothers were well into their twenties before there was running water in the house. Weekly baths were accomplished on the kitchen floor, wooden pump in the outhouse and carriage shed were out back. The house and property’s total value was 1800 dollars. The front door led to the front parlor, but people usually came and went by the side door on the porch. To the left , it is the kitchen. A carpeted stairway led to the bedroom upstairs. All the people in the town used the inexpensive various Victorian furnishings, so did the Wright family. The house is decorated well but small. The bishop’s room was cluttered. Wilbur slept in the middle room, Orville and Katharine in the two rooms at back. Since only downstairs provided heat, bedroom doors upstairs had to remain open during the cold weather. And the smell of coal was the smell of home. The sound of the train was part of the night in all seasons . kirk:page20-22 Dunbar once chalked a quatrain on the shop wall as a tribute to Orville’s extreme brightness. Years later he became a national wide poet. Wright brothers’ mother Susan passed away on July 4, 1889 at age 58 and the family never celebrated this holiday afterward. They ceased publishing the paper two years later and focused on making money as job printers. Orville loved the printing business but he found Willbur’s performance lacking. He once complained about this to their father, while assuring they were getting along well at home. Katharine went to college and the two brothers had to live domestically on their own. Either brother cooked the other week. At the same time they made major changes to the house, building the wraparound porch and installing new windows and shutters, all by themselves. Like much of the country, they began to ride bicycles. They rode over 30 miles away from home to see admire Adena Miamisburg Mound, a great reminder of a vanished native American civilization existing over 2000 years ago. Bicycles became the sensation of the time. Many people enthusiastically approved the “safety bicycles” as a boon to all mankind. But some protested against it because of it being morally hazardous, but such concerns had little effect. Everybody was riding bicycles. Katharine joined the craze at Oberlin College too. In 1893 Wright brothers opened their own bicycle business and the business went along well. Orville was a great fancy of bicycles. His face lit up while a subject on bicycles was brought up.